A "Hands on the Land" project, this Visitor Center is part of "a national network of field classrooms connecting students, teachers and parents to their public lands and waterways". The design of the center incorporates the "white cliffs" along the Missouri River, representative of the enormous scale and amazing beauty of the area. The center's riverside open terrace was built to resemble a riverboat, complete with a static display of a "grasshopper", a tool used by riverboat captains to dislodge their vessels from sand bars. The main structure is composed of a 2,000 sq. ft. interpretive exhibit area, 800 sq. feet of BLM management offices, and a river visitor information section. The remaining 5,400 sq. ft. of the facility houses restrooms, lobbies, a multi-purpose room and circulation-mechanical space.